Faith Academy stays perfect with win over John Paul II
Faith Academy senior quarterback Austin Ellis (13) runs behind junior tight end Hanner Shipley (7) and senior rock lineman Mitch Earwood (50) as senior offensive end Matthew Manley (33) looks for someone to block during the Flames' 28-21 victory against Schertz John Paul II on Sept. 27. Photo by Paloma Ortiz
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
CONVERSE — A defensive stand with 70 seconds left propelled the Faith Academy football team to a 28-21 victory over Schertz John Paul II on Sept. 27.
The Flames (5-0) extended their regular-season winning streak to 15 games and gave the Guardians (4-1) their first loss of 2013.
“It was not pretty,” Faith head coach Russ Roberts said. “I thought we learned to pay the price and not give up.”
John Paul struck first thanks to a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Mike McCabe to start the game.
But Faith answered on its first offensive series that was capped off by a one-yard touchdown by junior running back Royale Brown.
That was the first of four consecutive scoring drives for Faith. The second series ended on a three-yard run by sophomore running back Asa Ortiz, while the next touchdown came from senior quarterback Austin Ellis on a nine-yard run. Ortiz scored the Flames’ last touchdown of the half on a 15-yard dash to the end zone.
The Guardians answered with a touchdown just before halftime and another one on the first offensive series of the second half.
After that, the Faith defense took over.
The Flames forced two turnovers on downs. The last one was on a sack by senior defensive lineman Mitch Earwood, who took a hold of the ball carrier’s jersey and pulled the Guardian toward him and then tackled him.
That came with 1:10 left in the contest. Faith picked up a first down and forced John Paul to use its timeouts. After that, the Flames ran out the clock.
“Our defense played fantastic,” Roberts said. “The last two possessions were absolutely phenomenal. They were phenomenal. This was the first time we played someone who didn’t beat themselves. We had to give them negative plays.”
One of the reasons the Faith offense was unable to score points in the second half was because it picked up penalties that wiped out positive plays. Roberts said this game will be used as a learning tool.
Ellis rushed for 102 total yards, while Ortiz recorded 69, sophomore running back Jacob Metcalf had 66, Brown gained 45 and freshman running back Dalton Mayberry finished with seven. Ellis completed one pass to junior tight end Hanner Shipley for 18 yards.
Roberts believes his athletes earned the respect of others by getting this win.
“John Paul II played some solid football,” he said, “and we had to play some solid football to beat them.”
Faith plays San Antonio St. Gerard on Oct. 4 for the Flames’ homecoming. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. at Pony Stadium in Marble Falls.
jfierro@thepicayune.com